Get ready to vote on Tuesday

Voters across California will head to the polls on Tuesday for the June Primary Election – the first election in the state’s history that the top-two system will be used for all races.

In previous primary elections, California voters would only see candidates of their affiliated political party on their ballot. Now using the top-two primary system, ballots will list all candidates on a voter’s ballot, regardless of the political party they are registered with.

As one of the statewide races using the top-two primary system for the first time, the state’s governor’s race will see incumbent Jerry Brown up against challengers Neel Kashkari, a Republican, and Tim Donnelly, who has received grass root support from members of California’s Tea Party. According to political analysts, Brown is expected to receive the highest number of votes in the primary election, while the race between Kashkari and Donnelly to become Brown’s challenger in the November general election has remained fairly close.

This year’s gubernatorial election is not the only race being closely watched by California voters, as many congressional races throughout the state have also been highly contested.

In District 10, voters will choose the top two from the four listed candidates to represent the district in the U.S. House of Representatives, including: incumbent Jeff Denham, a Republican, Democratic choice candidate and local farmer Michael Eggman, Mike Barkley, a prior candidate and Democrat, and David Paul Christensen, who is not affiliated with any political party.

Running for the State Legislature, Senator Anthony Cannella, a Republican, will be challenged by Democratic candidate Shawn Bagley in District 12. For Assembly District 12, voters will choose between Kristin Olsen, a Republican, and Harinder Grewal, a Democrat. State Assembly District 21 voters will choose between Republican candidate Jack Mobley, and incumbent Assemblymember Adam Gray, a Democrat.

On Tuesday, California voters will also decide on two ballot measures – Propositions 41 and 42. Prop 41 would authorize $600 million in bonds for housing for veterans and their families, while Prop 41 would require local governments to pay for the costs of following state laws requiring public access to government information.

At the county level, Stanislaus voters will decide on several local offices and positions such as County Assessor, District Attorney, and County Sheriff-Coroner. Running for County Assessor is Turlock City Councilmember Amy Bublak and Don Gaekle, who has been serving as the interim County Assessor since the seat was vacated last year.

The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s race between incumbent Birgit Fladager and Frank Carson has received local attention, as the two challengers have held multiple public debates throughout the county over the past few months.

Also closely followed by county residents is the race for County Sheriff between incumbent Sheriff Adam Christianson and deputy sheriff Tom Letras – a former supporter of Christianson. Similar to Fladager and Carson, Letras and Christianson have joined for public debates as part of their campaigns, discussing public safety concerns and various funding/budget issues within the sheriff’s department.

County election polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. For more information on candidates and measures, as well as local polling place information for Stanislaus County, visit www.smartvoter.org/ca/stn.